[Ham-Computers] Need a Good Backup Utility----

[Jim Hill]

I've used Norton Ghost 2003 for years, but had serious problems when 
I attempted to make an image of the C drive on my Dell Dimension 4700 
with a 3.4 Ghz P4 processor, a recent swap meet purchase. The 
computer locked up during the reboot, and subsequent restarts always 
brought me back to the Ghost DOS screen giving me a choice of 
continuing or returning to Windows, neither of which worked.  It took 
plenty of head-scratching plus using boot floppies of Partition Magic 
and Bootitng to return to a normal Windows XP Pro screen. Part of the 
problem might have been mouse "keybounce"  (it had been previously 
used on a 1 GHz Pentium 3 where operation was much more leisurely).

I have not decided whether to try again or use another backup 
utility.  I have Ghost 10 on my Dell E510 with a 3 GHz P4, but it too 
inflexible for my tastes.  I can't name my backups (ID is date only), 
and backups occur automatically until the image drive is full.  Image 
files must be deleted to continue.  Poor instructions are given for 
file deletion with Norton only listing the most recent image while I 
would prefer one of the earliest images.  It does have the option of 
just restoring a file instead of just the entire drive, plus other 
nice features.

Has anybody had good results using Ghost 2003 on modern computers?

Can anyone recommend another good backup utility? It should have the 
option of booting from a boot CD or floppy, so if I'm having serious 
problems I restore even if I can't reach Windows.

Thanks, Jim